West Ham United legend Sir Trevor Brooking has condemned supporters who took part in the mass protests during the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley earlier in the month.

On a day where the Hammers suffered a third straight Premier League defeat which has left them three points above the relegation zone, much of the focus has centred around what happened off the pitch during the second half after Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood had struck for the visitors.

A section of supporters confronted the directors' box, others invaded the pitch several times, while those that remained seated sung "We're not West Ham anymore", “Sack the board” and “Where's the money gone?".

Furthermore, club captain Mark Noble - who has since explained his actions - had to physically restrain one fan who had made his way on to pitch, while the board members in attendance at the London Stadium were advised to leave before events got even more out of control.

Mark Noble clashes with a pitch invader

Also present at the ground was a visibly upset Brooking - a club icon - and he's admitted that tension boiled over as events on the pitch unfolded.

“I just think that the different supporter groups obviously got frustrated and were going to have the demonstration and then they cancelled it during the week,” he told the BBC on their Sportsweek program.

“It looked as if some of those decided if we went behind that was the time then to show their frustration. But the actual level of aggression was something I couldn’t believe a West Ham fan could get involved in.

“Some of the aggression was so strong – it did go back to the bad old days. I saw a few young families leaving because the youngsters were frightened. That’s not your genuine West Ham fan, and some of the aggression was really strong.”

“The stewards were quite young and really couldn’t deal with the aggression that they were faced with.”

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In the aftermath of the 3-0 defeat, co-chairman David Gold has insisted he won't step down from his position - although that has been met with a strong reaction from supporters.

All attentions will now turn to the huge clash against fellow strugglers Southampton after the international break and Brooking has called for frustrated fans to stay away from that fixture and the remaining games of the campaign.

West Ham United fans hold up protests signs and banners during match against Burnley (Image: Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

“The fans, and the fans involved in that have to understand that and really shelve all those discussions and all those frustrations – just don’t come to the games at the moment until you try and allow the players to get the points to try and stay up and that is the biggest challenge in the next three weeks," he added.

“There have been a lot of frustrations about spending money and a players coming in and all those sort of things as whether the stadium is the right place.

"The fact is we’re at the stadium and it’s nearly the end of the second season and yes there’s a debate on investment but now with five home matches remaining.

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"It looked an advantage. But when you’ve just lost 3-0 and had people coming onto the pitch with a lot of people venting their frustrations towards the directors… that means the next five games at home look pretty bleak.

"There is no way that the team is going to be able to play and get the points to stay up under that sort of atmosphere – it’s impossible.

“All I will say is that between now and the end of the season, anyone who has got that aggressive frustration to just don’t come to the five home games that are left because we need everyone, all the fans and the team all working together, to try and get sufficient results in the five home games – which we thought were going to be the strength – but yesterday became a massive weakness.”